"Career Pathways: From School to Retirement" brings together leading workforce researchers and practitioners to provide new perspectives on school-to-work and workplace career pathways. This groundbreaking book explains the transformations that have taken place in the workplace over the past several decades and how those transformations…

School nurses are often sources of health-care support for teens with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies. However, providing prevention (e.g., condoms) and teaching technical skills (e.g., condom use) needed to reduce high-risk sexual behavior may require a change in perceptions and policies. This study used a…

Database trials do not often garner a lot of feedback. Using community-organizing techniques can not only potentially increase the amount of feedback received but also deepen the relationship between the librarian and his or her constituent group. This is a case study of the use of community-organizing techniques in a series of database trials for…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine pre-service teachers and their use of online community. This study explored four focal participants enrolled at Benedictine College and their perceptions about online community. The participants were completing their student teaching block during the spring 2016 semester. The data sources…

The responsibility for college success has historically rested with the student, but since the 1980s, educators have taken increasing ownership of this, designing structures that increase the likelihood of learning, success, and retention. These efforts have included a variety of initiatives--first year seminars, learning communities,…

The primary purpose of this study was to understand how three diverse community colleges are interpreting and acting on federal initiatives to increase completion rates. The study attempted to answer four main research questions: (1) How do a selection of Kansas community colleges, as organizations, interpret the initiative to increase completion…

Interest in multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) as a process for school system reform is gaining momentum nationwide. Confusion exists as to what MTSS is and how response to intervention (RtI) and professional learning communities (PLCs) are related to its implementation. This article seeks to reconcile these differences through a descriptive…

"Linking Workforce Development to Economic Development: A Casebook for Community Colleges" is a compilation of best practice examples, which illustrate what it takes for community colleges to achieve their goal of helping people acquire education and skills, helping employers, supporting communities, and building the nation. The book is…

There has been considerable debate in community colleges over the last forty years regarding the impact of increased use of part-time faculty (PTF) on student learning. It has been argued that part-time faculty fail to provide the same level of teaching quality as full-time faculty (FTF). The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of…

This chapter explores the role of the president as enabler and leader in promoting a foundation that is engaged with the community and responsive to the college mission. It uses as its foundation a case study of Johnson County Community College (JCCC), where the president's involvement in the community educates the community about the college,…

Anomalies found in the application of Warren's "great change" theory to Haskell County, Kansas, led to use of multiple approaches including the ecological, interactional, and critical theoretical frameworks. These techniques expanded the understanding of social relations and social change in rural communities. (SK)

In the strategic planning process used by citizens in McPherson County, Kansas, discussions were dominated by the view of community as a county-wide issue. (JOW)

Dunlap, Kansas, identified as a stereotypical dying small town in a 1962 study, was restudied in 1974-75 in an effort to test the dying small town hypothesis (supported only by aggregate census data and casual observation rather than by specific studies). Researchers using unobtrusive observation of Dunlap and seven nearby unincorporated villages,…

Storytelling is a performance medium which is enhanced by the qualities indigenous to small towns: collective memory and common history. A type of narrative peculiar to small towns, the community-wide anecdote, is one example of storytelling. The transmittal of such tales is termed "endemic performance" because the retelling of the tales…

This case study assesses the impact of the farm sector on the economy and social organization of Decatur County (Kansas), a county which has historically depended on agriculture for its livelihood. Data were obtained from analysis of time series statistical indicators for the period between 1966 and 1984, questionnaire responses of local…